He Hadn't Always Been Like This
by Katarina Sparrow 19
Summary: Oliver Twist: A very dark two shot, the first part is Nancy focusing on how Bill had been when they first met. The second part is a girl who tries out for Nancy only to find herself believing she's been type cast. BOTH PARTS CONNECTED! Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

He Hadn't Always Been Like This:Pt.1

Disclaimer: Shock and dismay at it's finest, I am not Charles Dickens.

A/N: Well Here's Part One of this two shot. Nancy thinking of Bill and how he used to be. YOU MUST READ BOTH PARTS of this fic for it to make any kind of statement. Thanks for reading, please review.

He hadn't always been like this. Nancy watched her boyfriend lie snoring on the bed they shared. She opted not to come near him when he was like this, that snoring was annoying anyways. Bill lie unconsciously, not responding to even her loudest of disturbances. Of course, she had learned after a week with him not to disturb a man while he was sleeping. _Especially_ not a particularly violent man.

Not only had she been the youngest member of Fagin's gang when she had first arrived, she had been the best. That's how she'd met him really, tagging along after Bill wherever he walked in Fagin's residence. With a smile on her face, little six year old Nancy would skip around after him and tug at his waistcoat and ask him a million questions at once.

"Um...Mr. Sikes?"

"Yes?" he groveled at her in his low voice.

"Where'd you find those gravy boats, how'd you get it without waking the owner up, why didn't the guard dogs pick up your scent? Do you have magic or somethin, is that it? Are you a _magic _thief?" Sikes would growl unhappily but a look from Fagin had shut him up. After a while Sikes, eighteen at the time, would pull young Nancy into his lap and laugh at her curiousness. The sound was a mixture between thunder and cannon fire, it had always made Nancy giggle happily in his lap. Of course those had been her early days in the trade. After a little more then two months with Fagin she learned, you didn't laugh because the Runners might hear you, you didn't smile because it let them see how your teeth began to rot, and if you weren't earning your keep there wasn't anything worth smiling about to begin with. Nancy's childhood had been rough just like her adolescence had been rough. Nights in the tavern had been twice as bad as anything she'd ever encountered pick pocketing for the kind old man. At seventeen a one Mr. Bill Sikes became Nancy's prince charming. He'd stop in the tavern just to chat, he'd help her in any way he could. He'd been her crying shoulder and while he didn't say much on bad days, he still kept her best interest in mind.

But after it seemed to him that Nancy would be there forever whether he treated her nice or not, he figured, why put in the effort. Soon instead of minding his language around her he'd throw a string of curses her way. Instead of trying to comfort her on a bad day he'd simply let her be. The first time he'd hit her she thought it was an accident, a mistake, anything but deliberate. Prince charming couldn't have deliberately hit her. The second time it hurt worse and she knew it had been on purpose, but she figured she had deserved it. After a while the only way she knew how to stand up to him was to pretend it didn't hurt her when his fist struck her so hard she bled. After a while Bill Sikes saw no point in being kind to the young woman at all. So he'd become the most cruel being known to man, or at least known to her. Screams could be heard, ignored by the neighbors, pain could be felt, ignored by her body, and bruises could be seen, ignored by the gang. All and all what went on behind closed doors was ignored. She saw Bill stir and for a moment she thought he'd wake up and say something kind to her, like he always used to. But instead the only thing that came out of his mouth was -

"Where's me damn coffee woman?" Nancy sighed as she went across the room and reached for the pot. He hadn't always been like this.


	2. Part 2

He Hadn't Always Been Like This:Pt. 2

Disclaimer: Not Charles Dickens!

A/N: While I have been cast as Nancy at my school this is NOT based off me. My bf at the time of the auditions was wonderful to me. Be not afraid. Lol.

He hadn't always been like this. When she had first met him he'd been quiet but kind. He would call just to chat, he'd put her needs before his own, and he'd compliment her more then he'd tear her down. She'd fallen in love with him and lord help her she'd fallen fast. Now as she sat listening to her director describe Nancy's part, she couldn't keep her sorrowful blue eyes from wondering over to look at her boyfriend of three months.

"Now remember! Nancy is a girl who has fallen in love with somebody who is really, just an all around bad guy. He hits her, he swears at her, he's mean and rough but.....she's in love with him. Now this song we're giving you is like her anthem! She's saying, even though everybody says I need to get away from this guy, I'll be here as long as he needs me." She tried not to laugh as she listened to her director talk, she didn't need to hear Nancy's story, she'd lived it. Unconsciously she reached her hand up and touched the bruise hiding beneath her sweater. It wasn't alone, but the others were places which she dared not reach. She didn't want to remember.

The first time he'd hit her she'd thought it was an accident, a mistake, anything but deliberate. Prince charming couldn't have deliberately hit her. The second time hurt worse and she knew it was on purpose but still she thought she'd deserved it. Now with her mouth open, she was belting the words to "As Long As He Needs Me" and feeling emotions she had never felt before tear at her. Tears lept to her eyes and threatened to spill over as she sat down. Nobody said anything for a long time, she'd left them speechless and she was okay with that. She liked the silence. Because in the silence there was peace, in the silence there was sanctuary, in the silence she was safe.

Even when she wasn't silent she was still silent to them. Screams in the halls went ignored by teachers, pain from his blows went ignored by her, and bruises went ignored by her friends. All in all what went on when they weren't looking went largely unnoticed.

The directors were all looking at her now whispering excitedly. She didn't care all she could do was look at him. But his face remained the same, broken and uncaring. She wanted Nancy's part so bad. And secretly part of her hoped they understood, nobody could act the kind of pain she'd just unleashed.

The next day the cast list went up, her name next to Nancy, his next to Bill Sikes. When she'd finished screaming in joy she found herself laughing. That was almost amusing to her, did they realize the both of them had been type cast? It didn't matter now, he was coming down the hall. She went running to him with an ear to ear smile. Back when they'd first met he'd have cared, when they first started dating he'd have wrapped her up in a hug and planted her pink lips with a kiss but now her cries of -

"Baby I'm NANCY! I got Nancy!" Were met only by the sound of a sarcastic-

"Great." And him pushing gruffly past her. She watched him forlornly as he walked down the hall and out the school's doors. He hadn't always been like this.


End file.
